


You can’t catch a cold from kissing but you can die from holding hands

by hananocha



Category: Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Also Komaeda isn't wearing underwear, Ch2: Hinata is sassy as well, I decided too late to have this set in Island Mode but I already wrote a good line so, Komaeda is sassy even when sick, M/M, One incredibly cliché kiss, So do the kisses, The clichés continue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-01
Updated: 2016-10-06
Packaged: 2018-08-18 20:55:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8175854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hananocha/pseuds/hananocha
Summary: On a stormy night Hinata wanders along the beach of Jabberwock Island only to find a rain-drenched Komaeda. Seeing how someone like him obviously can't take care of himself, Hinata has to take action as his friend to prevent him from dying of pneumonia. Except Komaeda might have a slightly different perception of what "taking care of a sick friend" means.
Chapter 2:Hinata's worst nightmare comes true as he wakes up feeling incredibly weak and on the verge of losing consciousness. He knows how being ill feels like, but what at first seemed like Komaeda's cold passed to him, turns out to be something way worse...





	1. You can’t catch a cold from kissing

It had all started with a little bit of rain that turned into a downpour for the following couple of days. For Hinata, the absence of constant sunny heat had been a welcoming change of pace. Sure it meant the nuisance of having to carry around an umbrella every time they went exploring around Jabberwock Island, but the rain gave the shore surrounding them a distinct look of wild, untamed beauty that he couldn't tear his eyes from whenever he stopped and stared.Today too Hinata had decided to visit the beach at night to marvel at the crashing and roaring waves. As unpredictable as they came bigger and smaller, it somehow helped to put his mind at ease in these troubled circumstances on the island. And yet their so called 'heart throbbing school trip' had been uneventful the past days, what in their circumstances would be counted as a blessing rather than an inconvenience. 

Stepping out on the sandy beach, Hinata held his umbrella a bit tighter to brace against the harsh wind, carried by every crashing wave. As he adjusted his eyes against the misty rain, he could make out a figure close to the water. Squinting, Hinata tried to get a better look until he realized who he was staring at.

 

"Komaeda! What the hell are you doing out here!"

Said boy turned around and gave Hinata a small wave.

"What do you mean, what am I doing here? I could ask you the same, Hinata-kun."

 

A smile wafted over his face, framed by ghostly white strands of hair. But what was odd about Komaeda wasn't exactly the fact that he was here. It was that—

 "You're completely drenched!! Where is your umbrella even? You know, the one Monomi handed to us the day she told us a typhoon would cross by Jabberwock Island?" Having closed the distance, Hinata held his umbrella over both of them, already slightly annoyed at Komaeda's carefree attitude. 

 "My umbrella?" He pondered for a second before breaking out a smile. "I figured it's already too late so I went without one!"

"Too late? What do you even..." It was then that Hinata noticed the abnormal redness on Komaeda's cheeks, his eyes slightly glazed and his body swaying and shivering every time the wind blew a little stronger. 

 "You…!" Lacking the words to express both anger and worry he thrust his umbrella into Komaeda's unsteady hands. 

 

Of course. Why hadn't he noticed it earlier?

 

 When the rain had started a few days ago, they heard Komaeda sniffling and suppressing small coughs whenever they met at the restaurant. Nobody made a big deal about it mostly because nobody wanted to get involved with Komaeda anyway, but after enduring the next meal with him in this state it was Tsumiki who first raised her voice at him. 

_"Uhmm Komaeda-san, c-could it be that you're ... suffering from a cold?"_

But Komaeda just laughed at her with a genuine smile, asking if she was really worried about “someone like him” and therefore effectively ending the conversation with a stammering Tsumiki who couldn’t bring herself to continue her observation as the Ultimate Nurse.

 

 "If you already knew you were sick why didn't you at least try and rest?!" 

 Komaeda smiled again, but seemed to have trouble holding the umbrella upright against the wind so Hinata had to take it from him again. 

"You see, I tried to, but I think my cycle of luck prevented me from it so I figured, the worse it gets the better luck I'll have next time!" 

 Hinata's brows furrowed. Again this talk about this damned cycle. If it weren't for the many stories he had already heard he wouldn't have believed it, and yet it was still difficult to comprehend. But seeing Komaeda do this to himself just for the sake of something as unstable as “luck” was enough for him to snap. After everything he still considered Komaeda a friend and there was no way he’d let a friend endure such a situation.

 

"I can't believe it," he muttered both to himself and to the boy smiling at him before he quickly grabbed Komaeda's wrist and started dragging him away from the shore. 

"Ahaha, sorry I didn't want you to get upset about something stupid someone like me would d—"

Komaeda's apology was interrupted by a coughing fit and Hinata momentarily paused from stomping back to the cottages to let Komaeda catch his breath again. And maybe to shoot him an angry glance over his shoulder just for the sake of it.

 

He proceeded to drag the Ultimate Lucky Student further away from the beach until he reached his destination. Everyone else seemed holed up in their own cottages, which turned out to be quite convenient for now. If anyone had seen them they would get the image of Hinata sharing an umbrella with Komaeda while holding his hand. 

The thought was so shocking to him that it shot through his brain straight to his hand, where he quickly let go of Komaeda as if he'd just gotten electrified. No, he could definitely live without the shame of being caught like that.

 "Hinata-kun?" Komaeda's voice sounded even more breathy than usual. 

"Get in!" Hinata commanded, holding the door to his cottage open, not believing he had really just said that. 

"Uhm, perhaps you have forgotten the fact that we have individual cottages? Are you sure it's not you who is getting sick?"

"I— I know! But you obviously can't even take care of yourself! So get in!"

 

Hinata ended up shoving Komaeda through the door a bit rougher than he had planned, his emotions riled up from the other boy's remarks. Komaeda stumbled inside, looking at Hinata in a most confused way as he was slamming the door shut behind them.

 "You should've just let Tsumiki help you," Hinata’s voice finally turned softer.

"And have an Ultimate waste their time on me? Hinata-kun may be the only exception to willingly spend time with me out of his free will…"

Another glare pierced Komaeda at this statement.

"Besides, I could feel everyone thinking, ‘he deserves it,’ or, ‘stay away from me so I don't catch it’... So the fact that someone like you actually wants to help someone like me!" 

He clasped his hands together with a bright smile, which was soon interrupted with another coughing fit that had Komaeda bent over and clutching his body. Hinata actually felt bad for him. And at this moment he noticed the drops of water Komaeda was shedding on the floor. 

 

If Hinata were to be honest, he hadn't even thought that far. Get Komaeda out of the rain and do something to make him get better so he would stop pitying himself, or worse kill himself through pneumonia. So the next part would have to be completely improvised. He could already hear the snarky remarks of the other as his body, instead of his head, set in motion.

Hinata quickly went to rummage in his dresser, not being able to suppress the heat of embarrassment rising in his cheeks as his head decided to chime in afterall, scolding him but not intervening with any better ideas.

 

"H-here," he mumbled as he thrust a change of clothes into Komaeda's arms, who gingerly took it from him. 

"Thanks...? But my cottage is right over there I could've just gotten my—"

"Just take it and get changed already!" Hinata was desperately trying to avoid Komaeda's glance, face burning. 

 

"…where would you like me to put that?" Komaeda's voice made him look up again, eyes catching the pale exposed skin of Komaeda's legs. 

 

Maybe this had been a bad idea. No doubt it was a bad idea. 

 

"Just... Give them here I'll hang them up," Barely raising his head, Hinata took a neatly folded pile of wet clothes from Komaeda, spotting a checkered boxer shorts on top of it.

He paused momentarily, causing Komaeda to react before him. 

 "Since you were so kind to offer me your dry clothes I figured it would've been bad to soil them with my rain drenched underwear... It seems I was wrong so if you want me to, I'll put them back on..."

 Hinata yanked the clothes out of Komaeda's reach before he could react. 

 " _Isfine_...," he quickly mumbled, turning on his heel to hang the clothes up in his bathroom, busying his still chiding mind. He was just trying to help a friend with the method he had at hand, nothing wrong with that. And they were both boys anyway.

 

Returning, he found Komaeda standing on the same spot when he had left. He was still shivering slightly even with dry clothes, Hinata noted while his eyes wandered over the slightly taller boy in front of him. Wearing his clothes. 

The T-shirt seemed baggy around his small frame and made him seem even skinnier.

The sweat pants he had given him seemed to fit alright, but then Hinata remembered the fact that he just hung up Komaeda's underwear to dry and he quickly tore his gaze away before making out any more details on his body.  _They were both boys anyway!!_

In turn he felt Komaeda's eyes on him, confused, expecting something, anything, while just standing there and shivering occasionally. As if he needed permission.

 

"If... If you're cold you should just go to bed," Hinata gritted through his teeth and immediately regretted his words.

When he registered Komaeda's eye movements toward the door, he quickly added "my bed", already feeling shame and guilt wash over him as he braced for...

"Hinata-kun! You're quite bold today aren't you!" Komaeda giggled but his expression soon turned into something somber, wrapping his arms around his own body as if to stop it from shaking.

"If this is your way of making fun of me I'd rather you say it now and let me go…"

 "No!" Hinata's words left his mouth a little too soon and he furrowed his brows in frustration.

"I mean… I said I would show you how to take care of yourself!"

He hadn't _actually_ said that. At least not out loud. Somehow the sight of a rain drenched shivering Komaeda had been so heart-wrenching it felt like taking in a stray animal. Of course he couldn't say that out loud as well, or maybe he actually could, considering the other things he'd said today hadn’t exactly been thoughtful too. 

 

Hinata took a deep breath to calm himself. What was he getting nervous for anyway?

"So please... Just let me help you this once.”... _And afterwards please forget about it so you won't be able to tell anyone._

 

Komaeda shot him an unsure glance but then carefully made his way over to Hinata's bed, cautiously sitting down on the edge while barely touching the mattress.

"Are you really sure about this? I mean, don’t you think someone who is as filthy like me shouldn't be in your bed in the first place..." Komaeda trailed off, looking up to Hinata to seek confirmation in his face. 

The reply was a -slightly annoyed- sigh. 

"Yes Komaeda, I am sure, after all it was me who suggested it." His expression softened slightly. "You should get under the covers to warm yourself up already."

 Komaeda did as told and slipped underneath the blanket and immediately shuddered in relief, his eyes shutting tight. It seemed like he was already falling asleep when after a few moments his eyes snapped open again.

 

"Hinata-kun,"

 

"Y-yes?" 

 

Komaeda had been staring at the ceiling above when he coyly turned his head to the side, now barely meeting Hinata's gaze out of the corners of his eyes. 

"Uhm, I feel a bit uncomfortable if you just stand there and watch me... Are you by any chance waiting until I fall asleep so you can kill—“

 "No way!" Hinata exclaimed in a loud voice that made Komaeda wince as he quickly dropped down at the edge of the bed as if sitting down showed that he wasn’t ill natured. "None of this talk, alright? And scoot over then…"

"Ah yes, of course."

Komaeda was lucky none of his body parts got crushed when Hinata sat down so abruptly as if he needed to express his sour mood even through this simple action. Satisfied, Komaeda fell into silence again until…

 

"Hinata-kun… I was actually thinking, the blanket may not be enough to keep me warm," he half-suggested, avoiding direct eye contact again as if to not get scolded. 

 

The heat that flooded Hinata's cheeks was enough to stop him from answering verbally. Yet he actually went to lay down with a sigh that only sounded half as annoyed as planned, a little awkwardly to face Komaeda who had turned his body to him as well. This was to take care of Komaeda, he reminded himself. If Komaeda said he was cold, he’d have to do something about it.

"Do… do you get sick often?"

Maybe to distract himself or Komaeda, he quickly posed his question. After all he was tending to a sick friend and there shouldn’t be any embarrassment between them. To test his newly set excuse, Hinata raised a hand and reached for Komaeda's head, his fingers carefully treading through the still damp hair. If he was honest, he had always wanted to know how it would feel like to touch, and was pleased to find that it was as soft as expected.

He stopped himself before that satisfied smile made itself shown on his face.

 Komaeda tensed up to the touch and Hinata was about to remove his hand as quickly as he had put it, when Komaeda raised his voice too as if to conceal his own actions of little by little inching closer into Hinata's side. 

"Yeah... My health has been in pretty bad shape for a while."

 

Hinata's gaze softened. There it was again, the stray animal vibe. Or maybe it was just that Komaeda’s existence was pitiful in itself? 

"I guess that's kinda unlucky."

He cracked an awkward smile but was met with two green eyes piercing through his laugh that immediately got stuck in his throat. Even the movements of his hand in Komaeda’s hair came to an abrupt stop, startled by the boy’s gaze.

 

"On the contrary, I find it quite lucky," Komaeda’s eyes softened in an instant, "after all it has lead me to the curious circumstances of Hinata Hajime-kun taking care of me…" He chuckled.

 A pout appeared on Hinata’s face. He probably should’ve chosen his words more carefully and now he got dragged into this talk about the vicious cycle of luck and bad luck again.

“I’m doing this because we are friends, okay? There’s no such thing as luck involved in that sort.”

 “Oh, so this is a thing friends do for each other? I had no idea!”

 

Hinata felt like punching Komaeda if he didn’t have this sense of pity in the back of his head again. So he just resumed to softly running his hand through Komaeda’s hair again, gently dragging his short nails against the sensitive skin of his neck.

By now Komaeda had almost shuffled completely into his arms, lying chest to chest with him. Hinata had to hand it to him for being impressively smooth about it. He almost couldn’t find it in him to blush. Almost.

 

“You know Hinata-kun, I’m really happy…   Actually I’m so happy it’s almost scary!”

Komaeda’s words were only muffled by his shirt, shallow breath ghosting across his neck every time the boy exhaled.

 Hinata squirmed a bit. If Komaeda was going to continue to talk it would turn into the same old rant about hope and if possible he would’ve liked to prevent that from happening altogether.

 “You shouldn’t talk so much, it’s straining your throat,” he quickly chimed in with the best thing that was on top of his mind.

 “Even after you’ve already done so much for me, you’re still looking out for me! Hinata-kun! This is truly wonderful, I—“

 

“Komaeda!”

 

To get his full attention, Hinata pulled on Komaeda’s hair slightly, making him directly look up to him, their foreheads almost touching. When did they become so strangely intimate all of a sudden?

 Komaeda’s eyes stared into Hinata’s for a few seconds, startled by his outcry, and then started to nervously dart around. When he spoke up after that, his voice wasn’t more than a whisper. His cheeks seemed just a bit redder than before.

“Actually, I heard of one thing friends do for each other when they are sick...”

 Hinata’s ears peaked up. So Komaeda had accepted that they were friends? That was new, and astoundingly positive to hear from him. However this realization left him completely vulnerable for the actual request.

 

“Can I kiss you? … I—I mean, it’s commonly believed that an illness can be passed through a kiss, right? I heard when friends are sick and want to help out each other, they share a kiss to pass the illness from one person to another.  Do you… want to test my luck? I mean biologically it’s highly unlikely for an illness to be passed on by kissing, if at all kissing is supposed to strengthen one’s immunity—…”

 

Komaeda’s rambling was lost to the sound of blood rushing in his ears as he completely tensed up.  That wasn’t what friends did, that was definitely for lovers! And yet Komaeda now had that troubled look on his face, reevaluating his self-confidence and probably about to abuse himself mercilessly the moment Hinata told him that…

 

 “Yeah alright.”

 

Was he really going to go as far as to kiss him in order to not disappoint his friendship with Komaeda?! And wait, this wasn’t even part of a friendship anyway! Even Komaeda had to know such a trivial thing! Had he been completely played by the boy in the first place? But now Komaeda’s eyes were lighting up in joy and there was this kind of tiny hopeful smile on his face and—

 The pad of Komaeda’s thumb brushed over his lower lip, causing him to sigh. However that sound did not leave him, but instead got sealed underneath Komaeda’s lips that had gently placed themselves onto his mouth. In contrast to the rest of his shivering, cold body, they were surprisingly warm and also gone as soon as the kiss had happened in the first place.

 There was an almost cool absence on his lips he didn’t know was possible to feel and Hinata was about to open his eyes he didn’t remember he had closed when suddenly the warmth returned, this time more intensely, swallowing his surprised gasp that parted his mouth as if betraying his mind. Their breaths mingled as Komaeda shyly nipped on Hinata’s bottom lip and then dragged his open lips against the corner of his mouth, slowly backing up again and leaving Hinata’s mouth slightly parted not unlike gates opening for his morality to sink back in. While his thoughts flooded back into his head, the only thing he could hear was his heart thumping rapidly, almost like a comical loading sound for his brain.

 

“What the hell was that for!”

The hand that had been threading through Komaeda’s hair now went and covered his heated face while he turned away in irritation.

 

“Ah, you seemed like you were enjoying yourself, so I figured it would be alright to not stop after all...”

 

Hinata could all but feel the mocking grin radiating from his friend he had just kissed. Somehow he felt like he had been played from the moment he met Komaeda at the beach. Was that what he had meant with luck? And what was lucky about kissing him anyway?

 With an annoyed grunt Hinata rolled back over, pulling Komaeda closer after all. At least this way he couldn’t see his face that had lit up bright red.

“You got what you wanted right? So if you’re not cold anymore, just sleep already.”

He was definitely sulking for having allowed himself to be fooled by Komaeda yet again.

 “I understand. Thank you for your kindness, Hinata-kun. And…good luck.”

 Komaeda snuggled against him happily, leaving Hinata still moping and slightly dumbfolded about the other’s words before sleep got the best of him as well.

 

 

The next morning, Hinata awoke with a pounding headache, his nose stuffy and throat scratchy. There was a pile of his own clothes neatly folded on his sofa and his bed felt just a little too big.

“I thought catching a cold from kissing was just a myth!” he exclaimed in frustration.

 


	2. Can you actually die from holding hands?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hinata's worst nightmare comes true as he wakes up feeling incredibly weak and on the verge of losing consciousness. He knows how being ill feels like, but what at first seemed like Komaeda's cold passed to him, turns out to be something way worse...

After the first moments of him waking up, Hinata noticed that this couldn’t be a regular cold. As a healthy high schooler he hardly ever experienced being ill, but he _knew_ what it felt like. This... this was different.

The pounding headache kept going on and while Hinata would’ve liked to stay in bed to catch a few more minutes of sleep, there was just this one thought nagging him in the back of his head that eventually urged him to get up. Only that when he tried to stand up and get dressed, he got so dizzy he had to hold on to the sink in his bathroom, fearing his legs would give out any second. There was definitely nothing normal about this.

As Hinata looked up to the mirror, his face pain streaked and sweat-soaked, he caught a glimpse of _it_ from the corner of his eyes. 

Still on the clothes rack, fastened on a hanger.

Komaeda’s underwear.

The anger that boiled up inside Hinata just made him feel worse. Had this boy no decency at all? Out of all things, leaving his boxers here like some prized trophy as an award for “I kissed Komaeda Nagito”.

Speaking of that, Hinata was positive that this hadn’t been just a kiss in its purest form. This was a _curse_. Komaeda had cursed him and now he was going to…

 

Hinata clutched the handle of his cottage door, stabilizing himself as a violent cough forced its way up his throat. The corners of his eyes watered. Showing up in front of the beach he had been known to stop quite often, seeming all pitiful so someone as gullible as Hinata would take him in, acting all coy and flustered when he had suggested something ridiculous as kissing. Had all of this had been a twisted plan so Komaeda could…kill him? Poison him during their intimate moment, inject him with something in his sleep…

How could he have been such a fool, blindly trusting Komaeda and even encouraging their friendship when deep down, he actually knew the things he was capable of! Nobody had seen them enter his cottage together and there would be no signs of violence, of a struggle, when his classmates would discover his body in his room, dead of some unknown cause.

He was **not** going to let this happen. With his last strength, Hinata forced his shaking limbs outside and up the stairs to the restaurant where everyone usually met for breakfast. Funny how everything had started there, somehow. He should’ve just chosen to ignore Komaeda, like everyone else had. Then he wouldn’t have to drag his tired, _dying_ body up here and with his last breath let his class mates know who was the culprit of this wicked murder that had shamefully played off his good-will and boyish curiosity in a really despairingly—

Hinata collapsed in a chair closest to him, eyes momentarily closing.

No.

In his dying moments, he did not want to start rambling about despair and hope like the boy who had caused all of this! Or was this part of whatever he had contracted too?

 

Hinata could slowly feel the strength draining from him, even forming conclusions had become difficult now. If he didn’t hurry, maybe there would be no time to tell the others about the culprit. Sweat rolled down his temple as he looked for the most reliable person in the room, but noticed that everyone was pretty much scattered around and without trying, Hinata already knew that his sandpaper-lined throat wouldn’t be able to rise much higher than a hoarse whisper.

To his relief Owari, having just loaded another mountain of food on top of her plate, plopped down in a chair close to his. Sure, she wasn’t the most reliable person to solve a murder case but this was a _dying_ matter so anyone who would listen…

“Owari… I’m… — “

His voice just barely caught her attention, but as he wanted to make himself known as a new presence entered the room. 

 

“Everyone!”

Komaeda stepped into the restaurant, arms outstretched cheerfully.

“I woke up this morning with my cold gone, so you don’t have to endure the nuisance of me interrupting you on your way to the shining hope you’re bound to reach eventually! I’m feeling so healthy today, it’s like a miracle!”

_W… What? Komaeda was feeling **well**??_

The students of 77th’s class briefly acknowledged Komaeda’s presence and they quickly resumed to what they had been doing previously. Everyone except Hinata who had stood up so rapidly that the world in front of his eyes blurred and his knuckles turning white as he supported himself on the table’s edge. Shaking, he lifted a hand to point it at Komaeda.

“Y-you…!”

His voice could barely be considered as such, all raw and breathy.

“Good morning, Hinata-kun! I greatly appreciated your will to help me yesterday! Having friends is really amazing, I—“ He interrupted himself to finally take in Hinata’s condition.

“H-Hinata-kun?” Komaeda took a few careful steps towards him but Hinata already had his hands outstretched, signaling him to stop where he was.

“You… you _poisoned_ me! Because of you, I’m… going to… going to… die…”

 

His shaking legs finally took his balance and he collapsed back into the chair. Slowly, he felt his consciousness draining as the restaurant filled with screams. There was a rustling of chairs and various people calling out his name, as well as the Ultimate Nurse’s, but Hinata knew it was already too late. In this moment, he was going to die, but he at least spared his friends the hardships of the class trial. At least his death would also make sure that Komaeda would never… would… neve—

 

…

 

…

 

_“I-I think he’s waking up now! … Hinata-san? … Hinata-san!! Thank goodness!”_

There was a cold sensation on his forehead, foreign to his burning skin. Hinata opened his eyes groggily. His vision took a moment to focus, but then he could make out the ceiling of his cottage, where he was wrapped tightly into the blankets of his own bed.  Tsumiki stared at him, tears brimming in the corner of her eyes. Close by, Souda and Nanami were smiling at him, equally relieved. But in the very far corner of the room, _he_ was standing there as if to pretend to be concerned for him too. Or maybe he just wanted to make sure he was really dead… He wouldn’t allow that. If he couldn’t move, at least he could try talking some sense into him. After all, if he wasn’t dead yet, maybe there was _hope_ …

“K… Koma… eda,” he moaned, the name just barely spilling over his lips. 

Everyone standing around his bed made a surprised face as they moved aside to make way for said boy. Komaeda’s expression turned into a lopsided smile and he stepped forward a bit closer. When he had reached his bedside, Komaeda gingerly took Hinata’s hand in his, to which Hinata could do nothing but accept the probably fake gesture, lacking the strength to push him away.

“Uhmm, Hinata-kun, you see…”

He seemed nervous. Why was he nervous? Maybe Tsumiki had found a way to revive him and that was the reason he wasn’t going to die after all? So now Komaeda had to deal and live with the fact that another one of his murders didn’t go as planned?

Hinata groaned, his mind spinning with theories to which Komaeda squeezed his hand reassurinly in response.

“Tsumiki-san checked up on you, and it seems like you caught a common cold…”

A cold? A _common_ cold??

How was he experiencing a common cold when he felt like he could pass out at any second? Hinata began to thrash against his covers with whatever strength he had left, and the cold towel that had been laying on his forehead slid off. This caused Komaeda to pull back his hands in order to remove the towel completely. The sudden lack of physical contact just made Hinata feel more miserable as he was left alone with the shivering sensation of fever yet again and he frowned at Komaeda.

“Ah, although I remember Koizumi-san calling it _manflu_ …”

… man _what_?

“She said something about the lines of, ‘boys always overreact when they catch a cold! Since they are boys, they should be strong about it, but instead they just whine! Why can’t they grow up already?’” He sighed. “Although I guess it’s partly my fault, too… I made you take care of me, and suggested we play this little game… I got really worried when I saw you this morning. After all, if something were to happen to Hinata-kun, it would be because of my stupid luck. But I got so giddy yesterday when you said we were friends and actually went as far as to—“

Don’t say it! _Dontsayitdontsayitdontsayit!!!_

The others were still in the room! What the hell was Komaeda thinking, suddenly talking about _that_? With his last strength, he punched Komaeda on the arm, or more like brushed against it considering his weakened state, but it was enough to snap him out of it, interpreting Hinata’s fidgeting right this time and redirecting his words to the others.

“Oh! Everyone! Since Hinata-kun is awake now, I’ll take care of him. I know it might sound very selfish for someone like me to request this, but I’m sure Ultimates like you are very busy and have a lot of other things to tend to… I’m really grateful for Hinata-kun, and this seems like a task even I can do to make his hope shine brightly again…”

Souda was about to open his mouth to protest but Komaeda stopped him by speaking again, his eyes growing dark.

“… I’m also very worried about the three of you. With this luck of mine, there’s no telling if it couldn’t redirect Hinata-kun’s cold to one of you. If I were you, I wouldn’t risk it, but there’s no way a low being like me could stand up against you!” Komaeda laughed cheerfully but it was enough to convince at least Souda to panic. He tugged at Nanami’s arm but the high pitched words he used to persuade the other two were lost in Hinata’s thoughts which made his head spin.

 

First and foremost, he wasn’t going to die. That was as much relief as it was embarrassing for him to seriously hold on to that thought in the first place. Secondly, if it was just a common cold, he would feel better in no time. Thirdly, he was sure that somewhere in Koizumi’s words were definitely hidden insults. And, was it really a good idea to be left alone with Komaeda again? The fact that didn’t change was that he most likely did catch the cold thanks to Komaeda. Or because he had been visiting the cold, rainy beach that often. There was also a faint memory of him sneezing quite a few times recently…

 

“Hinata-kun,”

A thumb was jammed in between his furrowed eyebrows, causing an abrupt halt in his thoughts. Before Hinata could protest, Komaeda’s finger was moving a bit more carefully, working his skin to smooth out the creases in his forehead and it actually felt _good_. He started to relax, his eyes closing. Komaeda’s hands moved to his temple and into his hair, possibly reconstructing the scene from yesterday, just with reversed roles. The bed creaked as Komaeda’s weight shifted on it.

“Actually I was really worried about you… With this luck of mine, I’m just glad you didn’t die…”

As he felt breath ghosting over his cheek, Hinata carefully cracked his eyes open as if afraid what was awaiting him. Instead, he was met with two hazy green eyes, his stare full of concern and affection.

“Hinata-kun is always so nice to me, I can’t help myself wanting to be closer to you, even if it might cause bad luck…”

He had to avert his gaze, feeling dizzy yet again but this time because of the heat rising to his cheeks. His fever must’ve been acting up again. Before Komaeda could withdraw from his position of hovering above him, Hinata cleared his throat.

“Then… just take it back.”

“Huh??”

“I said,” Hinata dared to glare at Komaeda from the corner of his eyes, “If you’re so worried, just take the illness back…”

Komaeda’s eyes lit up, surprised. But before he could say anything like, “Oh Hinata-kun, you’re so bold!” or, “You really must be sick to say something like that!” he stopped himself and instead a gentle smile appeared on his lips. “If that’s what you want, Hinata-kun.”

Yep, he had said it. He had actually just dared Komaeda to kiss him. Komaeda, who he barely ten minutes ago had accused of trying to murder him. Maybe it was the sickness speaking after all. Or just a fever induced dream where he could allow himself to think that he had actually enjoyed their rather awkward kiss and Komaeda sleeping close to him…

Hinata’s eyelids dropped on their own as Komaeda bent down. Stray strands of wispy hair tickled his cheek and his chin was tilted in a gentle motion made him shiver involuntarily. But the warmth flooded right back to him when he felt lips brush against his own, the touch light as a feather. He was about to protest as the feeling left as quickly as it came, tilting his own head just slightly, but Komaeda picked up his hint quickly to move in again, pressing against him more firmly. The tips of their tongues met experimentally and Hinata shuddered as if an electric current was running through his body. The dizziness in his head turned into static, leaving with him with nothing but the feeling of Komaeda’s lips. They both pulled away, a little short of breath, and now it wasn’t only Hinata’s face that looked redder than usual, he noticed as he stole a glance at the flustered boy above him.

“Ahh… uhm— I’ll— I’ll go and get you a new cold towel!”

Hinata could almost hear Komaeda’s heart racing, or maybe it was his own, but he was almost glad to be momentarily separated, the tickling sensation of current still running through his limbs. 

 

Upon his return, Komaeda placed the towel back on his forehead and sat down at the edge of the bed. Hinata was starting to feel tired again.

“Seems like you extended yourself quite a bit there. I sure hope that’s only because you’re ill!”

“J-Just be quiet and let me sleep…” Too tired to further react to the halfhearted insult, Hinata’s hand reached up to grab a fistful of fluffy hair and proceeded to drag Komaeda down until his head was laying on his chest.

 

 

“Get well soon, Hinata-kun.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A friend said, hey it would be funny if Hinata actually died! But since this is still humor, i couldn't really do that.  
> I can definitely imagine Hinata as someone who exaggerates his illness if he has the privilege of someone taking care... although he'd probably never admit that.
> 
> If you haven't caught on, Komaeda leaving his underwear with Hinata is kinda the equivalent to collecting all of his hope shards. 
> 
> However!! My amazing beta reader for this chapter prompted me to explain what Komaeda was thinking, leaving with everything but his undergarments. So if that's something interesting for the reader, I might get back to writing.
> 
> Lots and lots of thanks to [TheHugglesist](http://archiveofourown.org/users/TheHugglesist/pseuds/TheHugglesist) for beta-reading! I'm sorry if I pestered you quite a lot!

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this while I was sick at the airport waiting 4 hours until my flight (which I almost missed). Don't fly while you're sick!  
> So yeah this is really self-indulgent. I want to be taken care of too! Ha ha
> 
> If you're wondering about the title, I was trying to google about the Japanese cliché of passing an illness and somehow ended up misreading one of the search results and TADA! Hinata isn't actually going to die though..
> 
> I've been thinking about adding a second chapter so let me know if you're interested!  
> Let's talk on tumblr, you can find me here! sternenmaler.tumblr.com
> 
>  
> 
> Beta'd by the amazing Kira-chan who helped me a lot with her motivating comments!!


End file.
